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FACES OF AGENT ORANGE TOWN HALL MEETING SCHEDULE

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Other Toxic Substances - Obesity and Diabetes: Toxins could make you fat - depending on gut bugs

After reviewing numerous studies -- including some by their Cornell colleague Ruth Ley -- they concluded that "there is mounting evidence that gut microbiota composition affects obesity and diabetes, as does exposure to environmentalchemicals" and that individual variations in gut microbiota may affect the way those chemicals are metabolized in the body.

More than three dozen environmental chemicals have been found to be "obesogenic" or "diabetogenic -- affecting pathways leading to obesity and/ordiabetes.

Several persistent pollutants like the insecticide DDT, dioxin and PCBs have been identified in the human epidemiological literature as likely culprits affecting type II diabetes risk. Globally, high levels of arsenic in water supplies also have been associated with increased incidence of type II diabetes.